Atlas, Titan and Polaris were already in service in 1963, and contributed to the overwhelming nuclear superiority which Khrushchev sought to cancel by placing medium range ballistic missiles in Cuba.
It is true Jupiter's role was being taken over by far more flexible and secure Polaris, which the soviets could not take out preemptively, and which could prepare for launch without giving the soviets any sign. So it is likely Jupiter missiles in turkey were not long for the world anyway.
However, one should keep in mind the entire Cuban gamble by Khrushchev was not a long term play in the first place. Technological advances were rendering obsolete America's bombers, which were the mainstay of strategic superiority. Soviet Union had technological parity with the US in strategic missile technology, and it's only a matter of a few years at most before Soviet Union build up a stockpile of uninterceptable nuclear missiles that could wipe out the US from soviet territory. It could be expected that with or without Cuban missiles, american's freedom of action resulting from overwhelming strategic nuclear superiority will go away within 5 years.
So the ploy to deploy missiles in Cuba, even if it worked, would only help the soviet for 5 years tops. After that they don't need those missiles in Cuba anymore. So yes, Jupiter's weren't long for the world, but since the whole strategic picture was going to flip anyway in 5 years, getting rid of the Jupiters earlier by even 2 years is significant gain for the USSR compare to limited duration of objectives of khruschev's Cuban gamble.
So I can't say Jupiters were a throw away. It was not a small concession from soviet points of view compare to the gains they hoped for from Cuba.
It is true Jupiter's role was being taken over by far more flexible and secure Polaris, which the soviets could not take out preemptively, and which could prepare for launch without giving the soviets any sign. So it is likely Jupiter missiles in turkey were not long for the world anyway.
However, one should keep in mind the entire Cuban gamble by Khrushchev was not a long term play in the first place. Technological advances were rendering obsolete America's bombers, which were the mainstay of strategic superiority. Soviet Union had technological parity with the US in strategic missile technology, and it's only a matter of a few years at most before Soviet Union build up a stockpile of uninterceptable nuclear missiles that could wipe out the US from soviet territory. It could be expected that with or without Cuban missiles, american's freedom of action resulting from overwhelming strategic nuclear superiority will go away within 5 years.
So the ploy to deploy missiles in Cuba, even if it worked, would only help the soviet for 5 years tops. After that they don't need those missiles in Cuba anymore. So yes, Jupiter's weren't long for the world, but since the whole strategic picture was going to flip anyway in 5 years, getting rid of the Jupiters earlier by even 2 years is significant gain for the USSR compare to limited duration of objectives of khruschev's Cuban gamble.
So I can't say Jupiters were a throw away. It was not a small concession from soviet points of view compare to the gains they hoped for from Cuba.
